Athletic shoe



June 30, 1964 w. KUNZLI 3,138,880

ATHLETIC SHOE Filed Jan. 29, 1965 INVENTOR.

WERNER KUNZLI WWW ATTORN EYS United States Patent 3,138,880 ATHLETIC SHOE Werner Kunzli, Windisch, Switzerland, assignor to Bennett Incorporated, Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Jan. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 254,737 Claims. (Cl. 362.5)

This invention relates to articles of footwear and more particularly comprises a new and improved athletic shoe.

Shoes designed to be worn in such active sports as soccer, football, field and track, skating, etc. must fit tightly about and lend substantial support to the feet without being stilt, unyielding and excessively heavy. One important object of this invention is to provide a relatively lightweight athletic shoe which possess all of the foregoing qualities.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an athletic shoe which enables the user to lace the shoe as tightly as possible without putting appreciable strain upon the eyelet opening and thus eliminates the need of reinforcing the margins of the opening.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide an athletic shoe which when laced tightly causes the heel of the shoe upper to fit snugly about and remain fixed relative to the heel of the foot to avoid rubbing.

' To achieve these and other objects, the shoe of this invention includes among its features an upper having quarters and a vamp made of one piece and with a relatively long eyelet opening extending from the top line of the upper forward to the toe area. A plurality of straps extend upwardly about the sides of the upper from the lasting margin and terminate at the edge of the eylet opening. Each of the straps is sewn along its length to the side of the upper and carries at its upper end an eyelet for the shoe lace at the eyelet opening. An additional pair of straps, one on each side of the upper, extend from the lasting margin approximately half way up the sides of the upper at the shank area and these additional straps also carry eyelets for the laces. In the preferred form of this invention yet another strap is sewn to the upper, which extends about the area of the heel. The ends of the additional strap extend forwardly and downwardly from the back seam and terminate immediately adjacent the upper ends of the pair of short straps at the sides.

These and other objects and features of this invention will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an athletic shoe constructed in accordance with this invention and with a portion of the eyelet opening edge folded back to expose the inside of the upper;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the shoe shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view partially broken away of the shoe shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the section line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

The athletic shoe illustrated in the drawing includes an upper and a sole 12. The shoe shown is of the style worn for soccer and consequently the sole 12 bears a number of cylindrically-shaped cleats 14. The upper 10 and sole 12 may be secured together in any convenient manner; that is, they may be nailed, stitched or cemented together or be attached by any combination of these methods. The particular method used for attaching the parts is not part of the present invention.

The upper 10 is shown in the drawing to have quarters 16 and vamp 18 made of one piece, and the rear edges of the quarters are sewn together at the rear seam 20. A rather wide eyelet opening 22 is provided which extends from the top line 24 to the toe region 26.

In the drawing five pairs of side straps 28 are shown to extend generally parallel to one another from the lasting margin 30 of the upper to the edge 32 of the eyelet opening 22. The forward most pair of straps 28a terminate at their upper end at the forward end of the eyelet opening 22 while the rear most straps 28b terminate at their upper end immediately adjacent the top line 24 at the rearward end of the eyelet opening. Preferably the straps are secured to the outer surface of the upper, and they are all stitched to the upper throughout their entire length as suggested by the seams 34. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower ends of the straps 28 are stitched to the lasting margin and lie beneath the sole 12 and therefore each is firmly stitched to the upper and will not part from it.

The upper ends 36 of each of the side straps 28 is looped through a D-shaped eyelet ring 38, and the upper end is folded back upon itself beneath the main portion of the strap and is sewn in place on the same side of the upper stock as the main portion (see FIG. 4). The upper end 36 of each strap extends slightly above the edge 32 of the eyelet opening 22 but does not encircle the edge. The manner in which the straps 28 are sewn to the upper and more particularly the manner in which their upper ends are folded upon themselves and looped through the D-shaped eyelet rings 38 eliminates the need for any reinforcement such as binding tape, etc. at the edge 32 of the eyelet opening. The lace 40 shown is threaded through the rings 38 and when the ends of laces are pulled with appreciable force to tighten the shoe upper about the foot the stress is distributed evenly over the entire side of the shoe upper from the margin 30 to the edge 32 by virtue of the continuous connection between the straps and the shoe sides.

Another strap 42 extends about the rear portion of the upper over the rear seam 20 and the back stay 44 which also overlies the rear seam 20. The strap 42 terminates at its forward edges 46 at the rearward most side strap 28b intermediate the top and bottom of the respective side straps. The portion of the strap 42 extending about the heel lies close to the top line 24 of the upper at the back stay 44, and the sides of strap 42 slope forwardly and downwardly to the central portion of the rearward most side straps 28b. The strap 42 is preferably sewn to the upper 10 substantially throughout its full length as suggested by the seam 48 so that any pull applied to the strap 42 is distributed about the heel of the upper throughout the full length of the strap.

Yet an additional pair of straps 50 are sewn to the upper. The bottoms of the straps 50 lie on the lasting margin 30 as dot the ends of the side straps 28 but the straps 50 terminate approximately half way up the side quarters 16 of the upper adjacent the forward ends 46 of the strap 42. The half straps 50 are shown in the drawing to be disposed immediately adjacent the rearward most side straps 28b and are located at the shank area of the shoe. Like the side straps 28, the half straps 50 each have their upper ends looped through D-shaped rings 38 which are adapted to receive the lace 40. The half straps 50 enable the upper to be laced more tightly on the foot and give additional support to the foot of the wearer. The half straps 50 are also sewn to the upper along their entire length so that pull applied to the rings 38 secured to their upper ends will be transmitted evenly throughout the portion of the upper over which the straps extend, rather than being localized at the region of the top or bottom of the strap.

The ends of lace 40 are shown in FIG. 2 to cross the eyelet opening 22 after leaving the eyelets 38 secured to the top of straps 28b, and each end passes through the eyelet on the opposite side of the upper carried by the half strap 50. The lace 40 after passing through the eyelets on the ends of the half straps are then brought back to the top of the upper and are tied over the portion of the lace threaded through the eyelets on the ends of the side straps 28. In certain types of footwear a tongue 52 may be provided to cushion the laces on the instep of the foot. However, the tongue is not an essential part of the invention and may be omitted when desired to reduce the weight of the shoe.

The upper 10 preferably is made of leather or some other strong yet relatively flexible material which is comfortable on and capable of giving adequate support to the foot. The straps 28, 42 and 50 may also be made of leather or some other strong material such as natural or synthetic fabric, rubber, etc. It is only essential that the material from which the straps are made be strong enough to withstand a substantial pull exerted by the tightened laces and be capable of transmitting the pull to the upper so that the upper will fit tightly about and give support to the foot.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that a shoe having the characteristics outlined above can be laced very snugly about the foot and the straps not only serve to pull the shoe tightly about the instep but also serve to pull the rear portion of the upper about the heel. Because the pull applied to the upper is distributed evenly over a substantial portion of the upper fabric by virtue of the straps, it is unnecessary to reinforce particular portions of the upper material and particularly it is unnecessary to reinforce the edge 32 of the eyelet opening 22 with binding tape or the like. Therefore, the shoe may be made relatively inexpensively and yet provide for the wearer very substantial foot support without sacrificing foot comfort.

The foregoing description will suggest modifications of the present invention to one familiar with the art of shoe making. Because numerous modifications may be made of this inveniton without departing from its spirit, it is not intended that the breadth of this invention be limited to the specific embodiment illustrated and described. Rather, it is intended that the scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. An athletic shoe comprising an upper having a one piece vamp and quarters sewn together at the back seam and having an eyelet opening extending from the front of the top line to the rear of the toe region,

a plurality of side straps secured throughout their length to the sides of the upper and extending upwardly on each side from the margin of the upper to the eyelet opening of the upper, said side straps being approximately parallel to one another on each side of the upper,

an additional strap extending around the heel area of the upper and having its two ends secured to the rearward most side strap on each side of the upper and intermediate the ends of said rearward most straps,

D-shaped eyelets secured to the upper ends of each of the side straps at the eyelet opening for receiving the lace,

another pair of straps extending upwardly one on each side of the upper from the margin of the upper approximately half way up the sides at the shank area,

and D-shaped eyelets secured to the upper ends of said pair of straps for receiving the ends of the lace threaded through the eyelets on the side straps.

2. A shoe as defined in claim 1 further characterized said additional strap at the region of the back seam lying adjacent the top line and with the ends of said strap sloping downwardly and forwardly to the rearward most side strap.

3. An athletic shoe comprising an upper having an eyelet opening extending from the front of the top line to the toe region,

a plurality of side straps secured throughout their length to the sides of the upper and extending upwardly on each side from the margin of the upper to the eyelet opening of the upper, said side straps being approximately parallel to one another on each side of the pp an additional strap extending around the heel area of the upper and having its two ends secured to a side strap on each side of the upper and intermediate the ends of said side straps,

eyelets secured to the upper ends of each of the side straps at the eyelet opening for receiving the lace,

another pair of straps extending upwardly one on each side of the upper from the margin of the upper approximately half way up the sides at the shank area,

and eyelets secured to the upper ends of said pair of straps for receiving the ends of the lace threaded through the eyelets on the side straps.

4. An athletic shoe as defined in claim 3 further characterized by,

the side straps extending upwardly beyond the edges of the eyelet opening and with the eyelets lying inwardly of the edge.

5. An athletic shoe as defined in claim 3 further characterized by,

said additional strap lying at the top of the heel area at the rear of the upper and sloping forwardly and downwardly toward the side straps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,049,347 Benjamin July 28, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 569,694 France Jan. 9, 1924 825,095 France Nov. 27, 1937 1,258,562 France Mar. 6, 1961 

1. AN ATHLETIC SHOE COMPRISING AN UPPER HAVING A ONE PIECE VAMP AND QUARTERS SEWN TOGETHER AT THE BACK SEAM AND HAVING AN EYELET OPENING EXTENDING FROM THE FRONT OF THE TOP LINE TO THE REAR OF THE TOE REGION, A PLURALITY OF SIDE STRAPS SECURED THROUGHOUT THEIR LENGTH TO THE SIDES OF THE UPPER AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY ON EACH SIDE FROM THE MARGIN OF THE UPPER TO THE EYELET OPENING OF THE UPPER, SAID SIDE STRAPS BEING APPROXIMATELY PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER ON EACH SIDE OF THE UPPER, AN ADDITIONAL STRAP EXTENDING AROUND THE HEEL AREA OF THE UPPER AND HAVING ITS TWO ENDS SECURED TO THE REARWARD MOST SIDE STRAP ON EACH SIDE OF THE UPPER 